Kaibutsu
by ThatSassMaster
Summary: I opened my eyes, and it wasn't the duo of zombies I was facing, but blurry images and a different home that I have known. I won't do it again - I won't fight for the people who fought to have me killed. I think I'd be better off with my brethren. (Time-travel jinchuuriki/Alt. universe; rated M for obvious mature content)
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto...or anything except 4 tickets to Catching Fire for tomorrow 3

Inspired by: _Darkpetal16_ and _Silver Queen_. If you haven't read their marvelous fics (in which case, have you been living under a rock?) I recommend that you do!

* * *

It was kind of hard to realize that this was happening. That the giant monster in front of me was my best friend; had been my best friend since the moment he had been sealed into me. For me, that had been seventeen years ago. Here, it was more like it had been two to three hours ago. It's hard to tell time when you're a baby.

For the longest time, all I saw was darkness. All I knew was darkness. I could see nothing, feel very little, and hear less than that. There's a reason children don't remember being born. The pain is unbearable. The worst thing imaginable; the feeling of choking and feeling like every single part of you is being stuffed into a tube.

I thought that it was some sort of very messed up, _heartbreakingly good_ genjutsu. My Nanabi had never been particularly good at breaking them apart – not unless we overpowered it with loads of chakra. This Nanabi was different; this one couldn't recall how I knew it – _him_ – as intimately as I did.

I wondered if this was what it felt like to be dying; if you saw your entire life flash by you slowly.

Then, I realized that I had already died. That the Kami, who I knew to be too cruel and too vicious, wouldn't have done something like _this._ I might have been a ninja; the number of people that I had killed or injured had to be well into the triple digits.

I had been seventeen when I died, bordering on eighteen. The days blurred together after I achieved the rank of chuunin. All I knew was that it was mission after mission, assassination after assassination. I was never good for much else. I couldn't move after that. Still, that was better than this.

Here, I could move my fingers. There, I couldn't; couldn't because there wasn't much of a point to after that. They stuck my palms with kunai. Two, buried to the hilt, into my palms, and then into the ground beneath it. My nose was broken, shattered. I had to breathe through my too dry, too dry, _too dry_ mouth. My top was wet and sticking to my skin, drenched with my blood. Some of it was theirs.

Most of it was mine.

There was a hole in my stomach, too. That was the main source of the blood. My leg was twisted and bent, broken to prevent me from doing anything. The left one, that is; the right one had been torn off missing from just above the knee. Only half my patella was still hanging on, drenched in blood. The rest of my body was the same; wracked with injuries and burns that they inflicted.

That I inflicted.

That Nanabi had inflicted.

The ninja had been talking. I could hear them only vaguely, with blood dripping down from my cracked forehead to my ears. That cocky, silver haired _bastard_ and the only man Takigakure had hated more than I. The village didn't hate everyone, but I was a monster.

So was he.

So were they.

And the group that the two of them belonged to.

Let me just say that it wasn't death that had happened to me. It's something that no human baby should have to remember. There is a reason that babies don't remember anything after they're born. I was never sure about the details (I never cared). This pain shouldn't be remembered by anyone.

Not only is being a baby incredibly painful; it's a hassle.

It's even more of a hassle when very few people want to go near you. I was fed from a bottle from the moment I was born into this world; even my mother didn't want to hold me. I didn't cry; not often. If they had forgotten to change me after hours, I'd cry and I'd fuss because it hurt. It hurt, it smelled, and it was beyond mortifying.

My Okāsan fed me from her bed. I had never seen her face before; had always wondered what she looked like, if she loved me and never got the chance to know me, if she was forever upset that her baby had gotten turned into a monster.

I didn't realize that my sole purpose for existing. That the reason I was born was because my Okāsan had volunteered. It was an S-rank mission, and she had taken it; had gotten paid for it. Afterwards, she kept me in a box. She kept me in a cardboard box with a pillow and a blanket to keep me warm and comfortable. If I needed to be change, she had one of the nurses do it.

Using chakra strings.

I never knew that; never knew that she had ordered them to do it. Ordered them because…

"The Monster must not have human contact. No one will love It. It will not have a friend in the world."

* * *

The Monster, as my mother so eloquently put it, was me. Everyone called me a Monster. Since my last life, it had been the name that they had given me. It didn't matter to them that I didn't know what I was until I was 4 years old. I was The Monster. Or, if they preferred it, I was The Creature, The Demon, The Unloved, and The Unwanted. If it had an insult to it, it was what they called me.

My favorite had to be The Thing.

It hadn't been until I had made genin last time that I had realized something that most other girls realized, and that was only because they explained to me I had to take a certain…pill – one that would stop a certain problem before I went out into the field. It wasn't until I made genin, around the age of ten, that I realized that I was a girl. That I wasn't a Monster, but a human being. That I had _the right_ to be loved like everyone else, and that no one had _the right_ to treat me like scum because of who I continued.

Everyone called him a Monster, and everyone hated him. For a while, I had to admit that I hated him, too. I hated him because no one loved me. No one cared if I got hurt. No one visited me in the hospital when I collapsed from abuse, chakra exhaustion, or the hunger. I couldn't tell you which is worse. And, I hadn't even accepted, until the Chuunin Exams, that he had saved my life. I should have died earlier – would have died earlier – if it hadn't been for him.

I loved him. I loved him more than the villagers wanted me to. That was why I had been sent on the assassination missions that no one else would take. On the border patrols, I was my own squad. I loved him; love him still. Because, I know now. I won't have to make the mistakes that I made last time by ignoring him and hating him like they had.

Him; the Nanabi. Him; _my Nanabi_. Him; Chōmei. Him; _my Chōmei._

He had been my friend, my best friend. He had been both my brother and my father. He had been the only family that I had ever known in those seventeen years.

I won't bore you with how I was as a baby. It really wasn't that interesting. The only think of note is that…my Okāsan abandoned me to the Leader with a look of disdain. She couldn't bring herself to carry the box she had all but thrown me into. She had had a water clone do it, and even the clone looked disgusted. I got to memorize her features.

And, I was still deciding on whether or not I wanted my revenge.

Leader didn't keep me for long, either. He dumped me in the orphanage without a second glance. From there, my diaper was changed, I was fed, and I was placed in a crib. Day after day, night after night, I found myself in that crib. My chakra coils were all over the place; itching and making me want to scream.

But, I didn't.

Because I remembered what had happened when I had screamed in the orphanage last time.

And, I didn't particularly want to be hit when I couldn't do anything to defend myself.

The only times I was picked up was when I was fed, and even then they didn't do it nearly as much as they should have, and when they changed my diaper – hours after I needed it done. It was embarrassing and mortifying, but I couldn't control my body.

By the time I was one, I had learned to sit up and say my first couple of words. ("G'way" for go away, and "m fin" for I'm fine.) Simple tiny phrases like that were easy for me to fake because that was what my caretakers would say to the children who wandered too close, and the other caretakers who asked for their wellbeing.

When I turned one was also the time the old man with the sinister look first begun to visit me. He came about once a month, and always took me out of my crib. He'd plot me on the ground and stand across from me, a couple of steps. I'll admit that I stared at him from time to time, but I was more curious about the ground around me. Crawling wasn't easy, but I hadn't forgotten to do it. I could stand on my own for a couple of seconds before falling back.

It took me forever to learn to walk.

"Uso," he said slowly. It was incredibly obvious that he wanted me to repeat after him.

"Uso-san, I wouldn't bother. The Monster can say but only a few words." My caretaker said. I never learned her name because I couldn't remember her…and she had introduced herself to me.

"Uso," he ignored her, saying his name once more.

"Utho," I echoed him, knowing full well that I was butchering his name with my inability to pronounce 's'.

"Do you know your name?" He asked, as if I could understand him.

So, I pretended that I didn't. I stared at him before turning and crawling, which was more like dragging me to the side. I heard him sigh before I felt him pick me up and plop me back in my original place.

He pointed to himself once more. "Uso,"

"Utho," I frowned at him, angry that he wouldn't let me get away.

Rather than point at himself again, Uso pointed towards me.

I stared.

And, he emphasized by moving his finger once more.

"'onth'r," I grinned, smiling brightly as if I were incredibly proud.

I wanted to scream, "Fū".

He shook his head, and glared at the woman behind him with such a dark look that I dared to hope. That I dared to believe that maybe, maybe, this had been the guy who kept me alive until the orphanage had thrown me out on the streets. I hadn't seen my Otōsan, but maybe…

Maybe…

I had been wrong. Perhaps my Otōsan hadn't impregnated my Okāsan and left her as soon as she had gotten paid. Perhaps he genuinely wanted me, but hadn't had the chance to take me.

Suddenly, I was a lot more attentive. I beamed up at him and got, wobbly, to my feet. I took maybe two steps towards him before I collapsed backwards, peering up at him earnestly. "Utho! Utho!"

"Yes," He smiled. It was a…creepy smile, but one that almost warmed me on the inside. "I'm Uso, and you're Fū."

* * *

AN: So, there we go. let me know what you think, and I'm so sorry to those of you who are getting frustrated. I swear on my life that I'll post next week!


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I don't even own Fū or Chōmei. I only own Uso, and I don't want to, and Shurui. **

**Warning! This chapter contains mature content.**

* * *

"Fū," He said sharply, avoiding my clumsy attempts at holding on to him.

This body was too weak to be able to hold onto him properly. Try as I might, it didn't seem like I'd ever be able to catch up to Otōsan. I reached for him all the time, but he never seemed to pick me up unless it was to take me out of my crib. Walking was a hassle, but I was starting to shakily get the hand of it. Rather than one or two steps before falling backwards, I could take more. It was easier if I was holding onto things.

I honestly think he enjoyed watching me as I bumbled along after him. I frowned and moved forward, trying to reach after him as he kept moving.

I'd never been this far out of the orphanage before. I had never been further than the room they had placed me in; well, that room or the conjoining bathroom where, occasionally, they cleaned me. I had been further out with my Otōsan than I had ever been with the wardens of the orphanage.

But, it did make me wonder. Why did m Otōsan leave me here instead of taking me with him?

Those were the childish thoughts that I had to squash down. I didn't know if this man was or wasn't my Otōsan. All I knew was that, when he was around, I was cared for and picked up. Maybe it was a selfish desire, but I had lived with myself and Nanabi for so long now, that I wasn't ashamed to admit that I craved human attention. I loved it when Otōsan came because I was no longer confined to the crib.

So, I trailed after him on wobbly legs, skinny from a lack of being fed though they may be. When he came to a stop, just outside the door leading out, I trailed after him until I was right next to him. My eyes fitted upwards with my eyebrows furrowing in confusion. He had waited until I caught up to him before he looked down.

"You aren't going to leave my side, are you, Fū?"

I wasn't sure whether or not I wanted to keep that promise. I hadn't been outside in a year, and I hadn't seen Takigakure in what must have been two. I didn't glance at him, rather too curious by the door in front of me. The last time I had walked out of this door, I hadn't looked back. I wanted this situation to be much the same.

I wouldn't mind living with Otōsan.

"Fū," his voice was sharp once more, and I felt a sting on the back of my head. My head hit my chest harshly, what few teeth I had clanked together, and I found myself on the floor, looking up with tears in my eyes. That shouldn't have hurt as much as it did. I had been stabbed, burned, and killed. I had been birthed again, and I remembered it.

That shouldn't have hurt.

But it did.

"H-Hai, Otōsan."

I reached my hands upwards, so that he could help me up the way the other orphans did with the caretakers. For a moment, his eyes flashed something I hadn't seen in a long time.

Distaste.

I felt my hands shaking as I looked up at him, unsure of what he would do and say. He had turned away from me, but I could feel the hatred radiating off of his body. I recognized it later than I should have. Killing intent.

I wanted to get away; I got to my feet myself and had been on the verge of running when his hand encircled around my head and turned me to look towards him. The feeling – the intent – was gone, but his eyes looked hollow still.

"Uso," He repeated with a dark look. "Not Otōsan. I'm not related to you."

I narrow my eyes at him through the locks of mint hair he's squishing to my forehead. I wish I could remember who he was. I have no doubt in my mind that Nanabi would recognize him…if only Nanabi would wake up.

"Goin' someplath, Utho-thama?" I struggled to keep up with him as we headed out of the village. I tried not to pay too much attention to the fact that people were walking around us in an effort to avoid us.

"Yes, we'll be traveling outside of Taki for now. You're to come with me."

"'nd then?" I asked.

He smiled. Not at me, nor with me, but it was a smile. "You'll be useful."

* * *

I felt my hands shaking all over again, glancing at the girls all around me. I knew that these sorts of things happened. They had happened around me, but never to me. I had always been…too disgusting for this sort of thing. No one had ever wanted a piece of the Monster.

Or, by the time that people did, it had been too late for them. The Nanabi had already woken up, and Chōmei would be damned if he let such a despicable act happen to his host.

I didn't know some prostitutes could be so kind.

"Shurui-chan, what are you doing?" One of the others hissed, pulling the woman away from me. It was unnerving to see someone so close to my original age with such dead-looking eyes. And, she was pretty; hooded purple eyes and wavy, black hair that looked like it was in a headdress.

"If she isn't prepared, they'll punish all of us." Shurui blinked slowly, pulling away from her and returning to kneeling in front of me.

"That Thing shouldn't be touched," the same girl shook her head. "It'll kill you."

"Then, let me hope that It does before they do," Shurui gestured towards the dark window in the corner. It was impossible for us to see through it, but perhaps not too impossible that they could see us.

"You won die," I said quietly, reaching my hand up to touch her face.

She flinched at the contact, but kept her eyes on me. For a minute, it looked as if she might start crying. But, when I looked closer, the look was gone. She unwrapped my small, ripped kimono from around me and folded it as best she could. She placed it on top of her old clothes, on the shelf that was right above the showers. She had only just returned to my side, wrapped her shaking, dainty hands around mine, when the water began.

It was torrents upon floods of freezing, bitter water that jumped out of the showerheads and towards us. I would have fallen over from the sheer weight it was hitting us with if Shurui-chan hadn't kept me up with her strength. Several other girls weren't that lucky. They shrieked as they fell over, trying to find a location where they wouldn't get wet.

They were stupid. There was no place safe. When the water stopped, suds began to fall from them. Shurui cupped some with her hands and smothered it all over my head before doing the same to us.

"Rub your head," she moved her hands in circled. "Like this."

I copied her obediently, shivering. Some of the others did the same. Those who didn't pressed themselves into a corner.

"You missed a spot," Shurui fell to her knees in front of me, moving her hands around my head softly while never making eye contact.

Somewhere inside of me, I wondered if this is what an Okāsan would do – bathe her child and keep her clean. Then, as I was wont to do, I bitterly reminded myself that an Okāsan would never let her child be found in one of these places to begin with, and that I knew what was going to happen to Shurui and the rest of the girls.

To me.

Shurui's hands met my small ones once more as another bout of water fell upon us. It rinsed us off. I felt Shurui's thumbs clean the soap from my eyes before I opened them. She flinched when they made contact with hers.

The door opened – it had been the one they had thrown us into. The look on my face when Uso had thrown me in here was probably one he wouldn't forget. Well, wouldn't forget until I dug my tiny fingernails into the side of his face and ripped it off.

"Wind Palm!" The man who stood there shouted, opening his palms towards all of us. Almost immediately, every single one of us were thrown against the back wall. I vaguely remember thin arms wrapping themselves around me before we slammed against other bodies.

I gasped, not because I hadn't felt such things before, but because this was too much for a small body like mine. And, I wasn't even the only one around my age. Probably the only one so malnourished, but there were, at least, two other girls like me. One had hair like woven gold, falling down in loose, wet ringlets around her face. She, too, was clothed and hugged tightly by some of the other women. The other girl, the brunette with dark skin, was much like me. Hugged loosely, but wet, naked, and shivering. Her eyes opened to meet mine in curious, childlike manner.

She probably didn't have the vaguest clue what was going to happen to her, and I tried to find pity somewhere in my heart. I even screamed for the Nanabi to wake up. Even crushed under his chakra, they would be happier dying a death like that rather than the one they were going to get.

* * *

When my eyes fell closed, I had a nice dream. It was one I hadn't had in a long time, but I knew that it was a hallucination. For one thing, Chōmei was awake and fluttering around the tree that had become my mindscape. For another, the old version of me was sitting on the branch beneath him, eyeing me with a look of distaste in her – my? – eye.

"You understand what's going to happen to you," She said, jumping from the tree and landing right in front of me.

"Yes," I answered her, trying to keep the dejected tone from entering my response.

"And, you aren't going to do anything about it?"

"Wha' woul' you 'ave me do?" I crossed my arms, childishly. "I don' 'ave weapons. I can' save me."

Older Fū smiled and leaned down, patting my head as a look of fury crossed over her. "You could get angry."

When I woke, I found myself crying and shaking. I couldn't help it. I knew it wasn't going to do much – if the captors gave in to crying, none of us would be here. I wrapped myself in a tight ball, wondering when they had picked me up and dragged me to some sort of mattress on the ground. I cried, unable to stop the tears and knowing that I didn't have a friend in the world who would save me from this torment.

If Leader-sama was unaware of what was going on, the guards would have stopped us at the gate. When I brought myself to stop crying, I sat up on the mattress and looked around. I hadn't been the only one who was crying – many were. I was one of two who remained unshackled. The other one was the dark haired girl who had been my age. She was crying, too, sitting on the lap of some woman I hadn't seen before.

"They didn't kill The Monster," a woman's hoarse voice rung out. "I'm surprised It can cry."

"Not 'onth'r." I glowered at her, wrapping my arms around myself, "Fū."

"Tell that to someone who doesn't know the truth." She sneered, getting to her feet.

Shurui stood between us quickly, her dark hair braided over her shoulder. "Fū is the only one among us who can stand against them. It, she…It can kill them or kill us. I won't watch It die."

"No die, Shu," I reached up at her.

Stiffly, she bent down to pick me up. "You'd be doing me the favor if you killed me, Nanabi-sama."

"No Nanbi-sama." I placed my hand on her cheek and made her look at me. "Fū. Nanbi sleepy."

I felt her grip on me tighten before she smiled weakly. "Then, can you wake It up…Fū?"

I tilted my head to the side and shrugged. "I nunno."

It was the last conversation I held with her before we were ushered into a dark room. Shurui held me. I looked over her shoulder; hand on her face, to the other smaller girl. She was being held, too, by a woman with droopy blue eyes and straight, chestnut hair.

"Put It down, Shurui-_chan_." Shurui's grip on me tightened as she slowly set me down, keeping me close to her.

They inspected us, then. It was a cruel-looking man. He looked too much like Uso for me to feel comfortable with him. He had a leer on his face as his eyes looked over the group, making himself look like he was starving and his eyes were caressing every inch of our bodies.

The man reached down, grabbed the hem of my kimono, and yanked it roughly over my head. I almost fell backwards, but Shurui kept me up. He poked…and he prodded. And, he touched me all over. His hands ran lightly over my skin, making me shiver. He even traced the lines around my hips with his fingertips.

I found myself shivering under his scrutiny. I had been ogled at before. As a kunoichi – and as the only one who cared little for the cold or heat and wore what she could regardless, there had been plenty of times for shinobi to leer – I was subjected to that sort of thing since I had grown into my previous body. But, not like this. Never like this. It had never occurred to me that this sort of thing happened in a village as small as Taki.

It also didn't occur to me that it hadn't happened last time because I'd killed several people who came near me. That this, and everything that was happening to me, was happening because I'd chosen not to let Chōmei kill them those first few days. I felt myself shaking harder as he got too close, _too close_, to _that_ area. It seemed like forever before he nodded, marked something on his clipboard, and moved away towards the other little girl. I saw the looks on the faces of those who avoided eye contact. And, I knew.

I knew. I knew. I knew.

Nothing good would come out of this.

"Can you wake It…Fū-chan? Please, for us?" Shurui's voice was soft, but her hand petting my head was not.

"I nunno, Shu. I can twy."

* * *

AN: There you go, guys. Chapter 2. Please tell me if you have any concerns about the story. I'd be perfectly willing to clarify. Also, I'm still looking for a Beta, so let me know if any of you are interested. This chapter was originally supposed to be posted Thursday, but I'll be driving down South, so I'm not sure if I could reach a computer or not. You might get an update, but I wouldn't count on it.

Or, if you do, it'll be...1000 ish words and incredibly short.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never have, never will.**

* * *

Once upon a time, an older me told me to get angry. There's very little an angry me can accomplish at this size, particularly because everyone around me is so much bigger than I am. It would be helpful and better if Shurui attacked them more than I did. Every time my tiny finger wretched themselves in the eyes of those who dared to do _that_ to me, I was immediately thrown across the room. The amount of bruises and cuts I had all over my body were increasing, but so too were my attacks on them.

The only person I _could_ stand to be around was Shurui. When she cried to herself, I would toddle over to her and lay down next to her. Where she once flinched when my hand came in contact with her face, she now took comfort in my sullied, infantile hands.

I reached my second birthday in the home. In celebration, Shurui and I were allowed to stay in the room rather than being paraded around like animals. My third birthday was spent much the same. I was luckier than she was. While there were sick freaks out there, not many of them came here, and fewer, still, wanted anything to do with a monster like me. Sayuri, the other little girl who had survived alongside me, had it much worse than I had. Men would inspect the two of us, and, after being on the opposite end of one of my bites, scratches, or attempts at burning them with my chakra, they would take her by the hand. It was awful of me to condemn her to such a fate, but I lived with a certain policy.

Better her than me.

"Fū, what are you doing?"

I dropped the katas I had been practicing to look up at Shurui with wide eyes. I had been left alone for the majority of the day. I had assumed that I would be alone for the foreseeable future, too. I had taken to practicing my katas of long ago in the hopes of one day, having my tenant wake up and take me away from here.

"Pwacticing, Shuwui." I beamed at her, flashing a smile at her.

"How taught you how to do that?" Shurui's voice was panicked.

I frowned and looked up at her, angry that she was questioning me when I only ever tried to protect and comfort her. I raised my hands up for her to pick me up, which she did after a couple of minutes. Then, I looked around and whispered in her ear.

"He thaid it. He thaid he'th tieod. Buh,, he'th waked up."

I'm not exactly lying. I can feel him start to stir somewhere inside of him. When I meditate, I shout and scream at him to get him to pay attention, but he's groggy and unresponsive. I can almost see him, but he's not the same Chōmei that I remember. Something about him is different, and I'm almost afraid to see what it is.

I hate. I hate so much that it's almost physically painful for me. I hate Uso and I hate Leader for letting him do this to me. I hate Shibuki for being born and for being the next Leader and still being too spineless to do anything about me. I hate the women in this place for not being kunoichi and not knowing how to kill. I hate Sayuri for being so young and so helpless. I hate Shurui for being dead on the inside, and numb to everything going on around her.

I hate myself for letting myself trust Uso. I hate Chōmei for not being awake and being unable to take care of me. I hate. I hate. I hate! It's not my fault. It was never my fault that they made me this monster.

"It-He's awake?" Her voice is torn between sounding horrified and sounding relieved.

I'm not sure what to make of her reaction, so I don't really respond so much as I stare at her blankly. I blinked and reach my hand up to touch her cheek, but she shakes her head and sets me down. Her hands are trembling, and her voice is shaking as she's climbing into her bed and wrapping herself up in a blanket. I know it's not time to go to bed yet, but I trust her more than I should. So, I tried to climb up in bed next to her. I took the time to drag my blanket off of my bed, but she takes neither it nor me.

She doesn't wrap her arms around me like I expected her to. She doesn't do any of her normal habits, but I still tried. I still tried to snuggle up to her. Even if she doesn't extend her kindness to me, I don't move. I don't do anything except let my eyes flutter closed. I force my breathing to even, and I scream.

* * *

When I open my eyes again, I am in familiar territory. I have been here over the past couple of days, but it had never been...quite right. The giant ocean in the distance is still there. The waters are roaring and hitting the beach. The blue water was beautiful. I paused in my movement, eyes widening as the tidal pools circle around the shore. The giant lake where Chōmei constantly laid himself down on. I followed the pushing winds down the path of the three bodies of water. They mixed together to create a giant fountain of salt water. When I was stuck in my mindscape, my favorite view was to see it explode. Water from all over the place would pour into the well, and the well would shoot it back upwards after enough had fallen in.

But, neither of these places held the one being I was looking for. I turned on my heel and let my eyes roam the giant tree – the one that was like the center of Takigakure. This one was the biggest tree I had ever seen – bigger than any tree could hope to be. I didn't hesitate to start climbing the tree, although it wasn't too difficult for me. It should have been impossible for anyone my size, but I don't let that stop me as I climb up and let my hands pull me up higher with every branch I pass.

Finally, I reached the branch I had been aiming for. I plant my feet firmly on the one branch once I've made sure that it was _the_ one I was looking for. The only reason it was the one I was looking for was because it was the only one wide enough to have him rest on. His tails were swaying from side to side, hanging off of the branch as I made my way towards him. As opposed to my dreams, an older me wasn't there with him. I was a little hesitant, at first, because I was nervous.

But, the closer I got to him, the more I felt at home. I didn't stop until I was beside him, and even then I began to climb his exoskeleton until I found myself situated on top of his head. There was a low rumbling in coming from him. It was meant to be intimidating, but it anything but.

"**Why are you here, mortal?**" Chōmei's voice was tired, as if he didn't want to wake up. As if he had better things to do.

"Do you remember anything, Nanabi?" My voice was soft, but I was trying to will him to understand.

The tails behind he crashed into the side of the tree and knocked branches down angrily. "**Do not dare to assume that I've forgotten anything, peasant.**"

I ran my hands down his exoskeleton, trying not to let myself feel anything that would wake me up and lose this connection. "What is my name?"

"**I don't care. It's all the same. You'll die, and I'll be shoved in another weak being. They'll die, and it'll happen all over again.**"

"You...don't remember me?" I felt my heartbeat slow down. "I'm Fū."

"**Didn't I tell you I didn't care?**"

"My name is Fū. I'm three years old, here..." My hands began shaking, even if I didn't want them to. "I used to be seventeen. I was your host then, as you are now."

He started laughing. It was low and cruel; different. Those kinds of laughs had never been directed my way before, and I found myself unable to form a proper response. Luckily for me, he hadn't been been waiting on me giving him any sort of note of approval. When he spoke, it was only to amuse himself. To muse to himself about what had happened, and why it had to have any sort of significance to him.

"**You, you insolent being, want me to believe that you're traveled through time?**"

"I don't want to you believe anything. I want you to realize that that's exactly what's happened." I frowned childishly. I wasn't going to take no for an answer. I needed him to believe me more than I needed anything else. "I can prove it to you."

"**You can try, but nothing will make me believe your outlandish lies, little girl.**"

"I _told_ you. I'm technically twenty years old." I frowned, trying to think of something that would make him believe me. "Your name is Chōmei."

He snorted, but I wasn't finished.

"Also, my mind scape. I haven't influenced at all. Everything that is here is because of you." I find myself sliding down. I don't stop until my feet touch the branch in front of him. I tried to eye him, to make him look at me, but he ignored me.

"**Who the hell told you my name?**"

I smiled, pleased to have his attention as I extended my finger up to point at him. "You did, when I was fifteen."

* * *

"Fū," Shurui's voice was what woke me up. Her hands were on my stomach, shaking me awake.

It took me a couple of seconds to focus on her, but, when I did, I smiled as brightly as I could. "He beliefs me!"

Her eyes narrowed at me, trying to figure out what had happened. I sat up and beamed at her, extending my arms upwards so that she would pick me up. When she did, I gestured towards the others. She hesitated, wary of the other women. I huddled up to her, eyes wide.

"What does the Monster want?" Her eyes were cold and hooded, and she pushed Sayuri away from me.

"The monthe' thaid tha' you can go to hell." I was careful to pronounce the end of my sentence, eyes flashing. "Cause, he'th awake."

* * *

AN: So, I knew that this was going to be short, but it was still 800 words more than I expected it to be. Let me know how you feel about the story.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. ): Or ****Fū or Chōmei. **

**Warning! This chapter contains mature content.**

**Wow. The amount of times I have to warn about that.**

* * *

I hate to admit that I'm different. I am different. It's not that hard to acknowledge, even if I admit constantly that I don't want to. I'm not sure of Chōmei notices because he didn't know the past me, but I knew the past him. I knew myself. I am very aware of how different she and I are. She would have gotten angry; did tell me that it was alright for me to get angry at what they had been doing to me. I will admit that I am beyond livid at what they have made me, at what they have been doing to me, but I did nothing. For years, I did nothing. The only person who ever managed to calm me down from going into hysterics was Shurui. Only when she wrapped me in her arms and lulled me did I let myself fall into wistful sleep.

Chōmei is awake now. He's been somewhat conscious since I was three, but it wasn't until recently that he's been able to stay awake more than a couple of hours. In the time that he's been awake, I've been able to tell him of all the things we did in the past. How he compared me to the previous hosts he had had, none of whom he liked. I told him that we were on a first name basis – that he liked me well enough _to_ tell me his name; even before the moment that I had taken my last breath. He wasn't always present in the back of my mind. Sometimes, he wouldn't wake up until after the men took me by hand. When he was awake, those were the times I was particularly vicious.

That wasn't to say that I just laid there and let them do what they wanted most of the time. I fought. I screamed. I scratched. I bit. It did nothing but encourage some of them. Eventually, they gave me the ones that liked that sort of thing. By the time I reached seven, I had to force myself to black out. I'd exit my mindscape in time to hear them laugh and straighten themselves out before leaving the room – as if they needed to be respectable to leave my sight. Often, I'd lay there and wait for the next guy to come in. Sometimes, they were merciful and let Shurui come in so that we could bathe together. Usually, it was a man decked in black that would appear in the room. He'd pick me up using my loosely tied kimono as a way to lift me rather than lay a physical hand on my person. He was obviously a ninja by his speed, and we'd appear in the holding room. He'd drop me on the bed and disappear. I usually just laid there until Shurui would walk into the room.

The other women had long since given up having anything to do with me. For Sayuri, they would wash her off the best they could. In the corner of the room, there was a pitcher of water and a rag. They would use it to clean her face and her legs. When I approached it, they would pull everything away from my grasp. Eventually, Shurui ripped a piece of the bedding for my cot and soaked it for me to use. When she wasn't there, and I wasn't feeling empty enough, I would clean myself off. I would do this mechanically because the only times I ever really woke up were when she wrapped her arms around me and would sing to me. It might have been the same mantra over and over for years, but it was comfortable enough I let her tell me it. I knew she was lying, but I found constant comfort in her words despite knowing I shouldn't.

"It'll all be over soon, Fū. It'll be over soon."

It was at night that I would hear the others discussing me. I never slept well; mostly just feigned it and took enough to make sure I didn't die of exhaustion. It was easy to hear my name as the subject on their lips. Shurui was the only one who was ever genuinely worried about me, the rest were just worried that I would snap and kill them. They'd argue about the best method of killing me – that they should strike now while I was young and untrained, therefore unable to defend myself. Shurui would argue that the rare occasions that the 'demon', meaning Chōmei, was awake, he was already starting to train me. That, if I was left alone enough times, I would practice my katas the Nanabi had given me. Only I knew the truth; I was practicing the katas I had developed for myself when I was older.

Even when I am 'awake' and no longer 'napping', they mostly leave me alone. I pretend to stare at the wall – at a nice little crack that begins in the corner of the room and extends across the walls – when I'm really meditating and urging Chōmei to properly wake up and help me take action. That's what I was doing when the man in black slammed the door open. I barely had time to sit up when his arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me over his shoulder. I grunted, but didn't put up much of a fight.

The only reason I move at all was because Shurui had moved forward, and the rest of the women in the room had to restrain her before she did something both of us regretted. I forced my eyes to look into hers and smiled as she screamed. Once we exited the holding room, I let myself to slump over once more. Though his shoulder was uncomfortable, digging into my stomach, I didn't move, nor did I retort when he said crude things to me.

He took me to the room I uncomfortable seeing, but used to. He threw me onto the cot there. Basically, I hit what little cushioning was on the floor with a hard grunt. Chōmei's chakra no longer protected me here like it had in the past; leaving me to grunt and hiss in pain. I glanced over my shoulder back at the man, but he didn't spare me much attention after delivering me. He turned on his heel and left the room. When I see the man standing in the doorway, it takes all myself control not to scream and fight there.

Because, there is no point. His time will come soon enough.

Uso. I stared at him blankly, trying to make it seem like I had no idea who he was, though he was my first word. Though I burned his image into my memory a long time ago, just for this moment; slowly, like I have been trained to do in my six years here, I pull off my kimono and let it fall carelessly to the ground. I stare up at him like I'm waiting for him to come closer.

I am, but not for the reason he probably would have hoped for.

He steps closer, and his hand cups my face and forces for me to look up at him. "Hello, Fū. I've heard you've been very successful here."

I didn't answer him because I was focusing. I go against the small instinct that doesn't want to hate him. So, I think of the man that had me yesterday. I think of how his hands wrapped around my neck and didn't let go until I was gasping for breath.

"You've made me a very rich man."

I focused on the feeling of the sweaty, disgusting man on top of me and how much smaller it made me feel to have to shoulder all that weight. I think of how he never lasted long, but how I feel like I never have enough air in my lungs though he rolled off of me hours ago.

"I just came by because I wanted to check on how my little Kaijū was doing."

I think of the way the men shout their pleasure. I think of the scars that they have left on my tiny body, and the way they refuse to meet my gaze as they are pulling on their pants. Instead of discouraging him, my lack of a response gave Uso the motivation to pull his hand back and slap me. My head turns sharply to the left, but I go back to facing him, though the pain in my cheek is growing. I let him circle me, watch me closely as I keep my gaze forward.

"You're so popular, though I can hardly imagine why."

He pushed me back, and I fell back on the cot and stare up at the ceiling as he grinned hatefully at me. The notion of facing the ceiling is odd because so few want my expressionless red eyes on them. When he flips me over, I don't stare down at the blanket as I might have once done. When I feel his hands on my hips, I don't shudder, not even when his hands begin to draw small circles. Instead, I let my eyes shut and wander to the only place I have ever felt safe.

When I glance up again, I am no longer in the box that brings me only misery. I no longer see cracks in the wall, but I see an ocean in the distance. I can almost feel the tide rush forward, most of it falling into a hole in the center. I see the separated lake that's calm and unmoving with the exception of small geysers that blow some of the water into the fountain that the ocean was throwing itself into. I see the tidal pools circling and whirling around until they, too, fall into the fountain. The waters begin to swirl, and I hightail it to the tree before it has a chance to explode and pull me down with it. I never experienced it before, but I doubt getting lost within my own mind would be healthy for me.

"**You've returned.**"

I glance up at him, and I can't help but grin as his tails wrap around my waist more gently than the man in black and pull me to face him. The chakra should burn me – would have probably burnt me if we were anywhere but inside my own mind. Instead, they're warm and tender and put me down only when I've reached his helmet-like skull. I can feel the displeasure radiating off of him, but I don't say anything about it. If I do, the chances of him getting angry are higher. I would rather him yell at me on his own instead of letting me feel his unhappiness – instead of letting me feel like he is pitying me, but he doesn't. He doesn't, and I find myself ducking my head down. There haven't been many people, especially lately, that have made me feel guilty.

But, there aren't very many people that I care for on the same scale that I care for him.

"**I'll kill him.**" His voice and his tone seem blank to those untrained, but I know better. It is matter-of-fact. As if he is telling me this for my benefit, though we both know that I am hoping that that's exactly what he'll do. Half a beat later, almost to remind himself, he adds, "**I should kill you, too.**"

I smile brightly because I'm incredibly amused that he would make that threat. I lay my small hand down on his head, and I send my chakra right back at him to warm him. Chōmei's the only one I've really spoken to. Even Shurui only gets a nod or a shake of my head; I haven't felt much like speaking since my fifth birthday. I feel like everything about me is darker and more twisted than I ever intended for them to be, but I am not worried about me. Even if he isn't exactly _my_ Chōmei, he still knows me better than anyone else.

"Slowly? And painfully?"

"**There isn't another way.**"

I find myself laughing because this definitely isn't the first time he's ever said something like that. Even if he didn't remember, I do. I'm relieved to have my friend back so much that I give him a hug and marvel at how cool and soft his exoskeleton feels. I'm so relieved that I hardly mind that he isn't the friend I've known all my life.

"**He's finished.**" And, I wince at how his voice sounds full of disgust and rage, and I have to pat him to remind him that I'm still on him. In front of us, the fountain explodes outwards, expelling all the water it's collected.

"Do you want to take over?" I ask diplomatically as he places me down on the ground. I extend my small hand outward in a fist. When I feel his green leg bump into it, I smile and plop myself down.

"**Silence; this shouldn't take long.**"

When my eyes flutter open again, I am not in control of my body. I can't see my eyes, but I know that are glowing brighter and are much closer to orange than red. I know the chakra bumbling underneath my skin isn't really mine. And, I feel the mattress pressed against my face, even though I'm not the one lying on it right now. The weight pressed into me still was surprising, but Chōmei didn't immediately throw him off. Instead, he sits up slowly and turns to face Uso.

"I don't see why you're so popular if you just lie there, gomi."

"We're not trash." Chōmei is more calm than I would have given him credit for. He stands up off the cot and pulls on my kimono, wrapping it around my frame faster and more tightly than I would have been able to do by myself. I wouldn't have done it correctly because Shurui would have fixed it when I was returned to the room, but this time things are different. Chōmei hides my fingers behind the sleeves. I feel the chakra bubbling in that direction, but it seems as if Uso does not.

"My _dear_ gomi, you fail to acknowledge just what you are."

"And just what am I?" Chōmei's scary when he's calm, enunciating every word so that my voice and his words don't sound misconstrued. "Besides Fū?"

"To many, the words used to describe you are interchanging; monster, creature, demon, unloved, unwanted. The favorite is thing, my personal is gomi. They all mean the same thing – you."

"And, just whose fault is that?"

"Your bitch of a mother for opening her legs for money." His voice turned sour, and his eyes flashed in anger.

I might have sympathized with him, but Chōmei shrugged my shoulders. "I can't argue with you."

Uso's eyes are suddenly turned on me, assessing me right up to the moment where my best friend quit moving. If he were a slower man, that first punch might have killed him. Instead, the chakra that Chōmei had been carefully constructing only burned his hand when it caught my tiny fist.

"What the hell are you doing, monster?"

"Fo**r once, you got it right.**" Chōmei laughed, gritting my teeth together. His chakra started pumping forward at a faster rate, burning through my chakra like it wasn't there at all. He let out a deep laugh that didn't really match my small frame.

"Nanabi!"

From inside, I think about how it felt to have Uso's hand in mind as he led me outside the village. I think about the cold showers and how Shurui had to show me what to do. I think about the nights I laid trembling in the cot they gave us, her hands wrapped around me. I think of his _weight_ on my body as he thrust, and I let Chōmei do whatever he wants.

"**I'm thinking of how nice it'll be to kill you.**" He jumps back to avoid the kunai Uso swings forward into the spot we were just standing. My fingernails extend, and it's almost like my skin is the armor it once was. There's a familiar burning sensation on my back, and the Nanabi only had to jump a little to fly up into the air. "**To break your neck with her hands and then move on to every other piece of useless, worthless flesh here.**"

Uso laughs, sharply and nervously. "You think you can beat us trapped in that mangy little body? I am a seasoned shinobi. Your host is nothing more than a slut."

* * *

"**He's dead.**" Chōmei's voice wasn't really proud. It wasn't even pleased. It barely bordered on amused, but it was more emotion in his voice than I had heard in a long time. I opened my eyes to look at him, blinking slowly and extending my feet out from their crisscross position to try to get the flow back into them. "**They're all dead.**"

I gave him a sharp look as I got to my feet, crossing my arms in front of them. "All of them?"

He snorted, landing in the middle of his lake and letting his tails flip around behind him. "**Not your precious women; the shinobi are dead.**"

With a satisfied smile, I extended my hand out. I was afraid he wasn't going to respond, but he surprised me with his giant green foot. I connected with my fist, and I waved at him.

I felt shaky and light as my longest friend drew his chakra right back into me. I'd be lying if I said my first instinct wasn't to fall to the ground and take a nap right then and there. In order to access his chakra easier, Chōmei had suppressed mine underneath his. I pulled my hands tersely, not unclenching my fingers from the muscles they were wrapped around. They had been clenched so tightly around them that it wasn't until I had pulled them free that I realized what they had really been clenched onto; parts of bone. I swallowed tartly and closed my eyes, sucking in a breath and hating the metallic smell that flew in. I let the bone fall back into the shreds of what remained of Uso's body.

It seemed he had come back to decimate the body of the man who had done this to me.

The kimono that Shurui had given me had been ripped from the sleeves. In fact, it was ripped and torn and burned in so many places that it barely clung to my body. I stumbled out of the room and startled when the man in black was slumped against the opposite wall. His neck, thankfully, was still in tack, but I couldn't say the same about his chest. Chōmei must have used a tail to kill him because it wasn't neat. What was left of his heart was hanging out in shreds on his stomach. The arch of aorta had claw marks on it, and it was disconnected from the rest of it. I hardly remember what ventricles of the heart looked like from my studies in the academy all those years ago, but I doubted that they were supposed to be smashed to pieces.

When I took steps forward, they were wobbly at best. I had to grab onto the wall to steady myself, and when I did my hands would come into view. They were burned severely at the tips, but I could barely feel the pain. It'd only register when I clenched on to something. As I walked down the hall, victims of Chōmei – and by extension my – wrath came into view. Many people were left the same as Uso and the man in black. The blood on my hands felt heavier, but I couldn't bring myself to feel any regret. They had what was coming to them. I knocked on the door of our holding room quietly, taking a step back when the door opened violently.

I hesitated for only a moment until I was sure of the presence standing in front of me. I rushed forward and wrapped my arms around Shurui, basking in the gasps that everyone else was taking. Shurui's frame started to tremble, and I fell backwards when a woman pulled her from me.

"Okāsan?" I blinked up at her, holding my hand out for her to take.

"What did you do?" A woman screamed, and they cluttered around her. For a moment, she fought against them, but when her eyes fell on the kimono wrapped around me and the blood on my fingers and my face, she quit.

My hands fell limply to my side, and I snapped at them harsher than I meant to. "I did what you wanted me to do."

"Pray, monster, what was that?"

I extended my hands out for them to see, and everything else was pretty self-explanatory. Chōmei hadn't exactly been neat in the way he went around killing everyone. The blood stains on my person were obvious. "You wanted Nanabi to wake up and kill them, right? He succeeded. They're dead! They're all dead!"

I laughed hysterically, moving forward. The women all scrambled away except for my previous Shurui. She fell to her knees, and I patted her face as I was wont to do. The blood on my hands hadn't really dried much, for they left smudges on her cheeks where I had patted her. My eyes shone gleefully as I leaned forward, pressing my forehead against hers.

"The monster's awake, _Okāsan._ Are you pleased? Are you happy?"

She wrapped her hands around me and pulled me into a hug, and I let myself relax.

"Fū-chan, I'd be happier if you killed me."

"W-what?" I pushed back away from her, eyes widening.

I tried to ignore Chōmei laughing in the back of my mind.

"I have nothing left to live for. Please, please kill me." Her large hands wrapped around mine, and her eyes were pleading.

* * *

**A/N:** Here's the latest installment. Let me know what you guys think!

Did she kill Shurui? Or, _will_ she kill Shurui? What do you guys want to happen?


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